The stock market started the day lower as inflation numbers came in stronger than expected. The numbers showed a rise in consumer prices, but recently we saw weaker retail sales, so this was seen as negative. But the banks stepped in and pulled the markets into positive territory to close the day higher for the 4th consecutive day. The Dow 30 closed the day higher by 256, the S&P 500 added 35, and the Nasdaq 100 gained 130.
Goldman Sachs (GS ) was one of the leaders in the financial space today, as they reported that during last week's meltdown, as retail investors were selling, their corporate desk was flooded with buy orders. Corporate buy orders were 4.5 times higher than their average, indicating that corporations took the opportunity to buy back some of their shares. While this won't stave off a major market correction, it is a good sign and will likely cause earnings per share to show higher than normal next quarter.
Chipotle (CMG ) rallied sharply today as it was announced that they chose Brian Niccol from Taco Bell as their new CEO. The company has been on a CEO hunt for the past few weeks in an effort to recover the brand and start in a new direction.
Baidu (BIDU ) shares shot higher today by about 5% as the company reported earnings that were better than Wall Street's expectations. Investors were concerned about competition from Alibaba (BABA ) but this earnings shows that Baidu can still compete.